EDITORIAL: Dengue is on the rise again. According to a press report, 127 people tested positive for the infection in just one day, i.e., last Thursday, in the federal capital Islamabad and the adjoining Rawalpindi district.
The total number of registered dengue patients stood at a staggering 2,651 while that of those admitted to various public sector hospitals was increasing fast.
Earlier this month, in Punjab, as many as 4,431 dengue cases were reported with Lahore leading with 1,770 cases followed by Rawalpindi with 1,176, Multan with 532 and Faisalabad with 211. This data, collected from various healthcare facilities, does not represent a true picture of the real incidence of the disease, which may be much higher.
Unofficial reports from other parts of the country, including Karachi, suggest a similar trend driving the spread of the dengue vector, which is hardly surprising. It is well-known by now that the current season is ideal for dengue mosquito’s breeding.
It’s been nearly two months since the interim Punjab minister for primary and secondary healthcare announced that all relevant departments had been directed to work in coordination to prevent the spread of dengue disease. So far, there is no sign of that happening.
No lessons seem to have been learnt from the previous experiences that called for a combination of pre-emptive measures. A critical factor for success is better public awareness about uncovered water containers and utensils as well as disused tyres kept in homes and vehicle repair shops.
The eggs laid in them by dengue mosquito are said to stay dormant for months of dry period and become active once they receive water from rain or some other source. Equally important is the need for the authorities concerned to get active and destroy mosquito breeding grounds through sprays and fumigation, especially in densely populated neighbourhoods with poor hygienic conditions.
If the provincial government’s claims are to be believed district health teams have been actively engaged in containing the spread of dengue. The proof of effectiveness, however, is in results rather than what the authorities have to say.
The aforementioned figures of dengue cases should also serve as wakeup call for health authorities in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, prone to this public health scourge, before it takes on epidemic proportions. Lest things come to such a pass they must increase monitoring, and better inform the people about precautionary measures.
As for the other safeguard steps, it may be recalled that health officials in the previous Punjab government when questioned about failure to carry out fumigation had explained that it causes some serious health problems.
That may be so. But the tried and tested dengue mosquito killing sprays ought to be employed urgently. The World Health Organisation while noting that dengue is endemic to this country warns that the population is at risk of reinfection and serious complications.
It is imperative therefore to start conducting vector surveillance and control activities as a part of an integrated vector management programme.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
Comments
Comments are closed.